This application is based on and claims the priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 of German Patent Application 100 37 621.5, filed on Aug. 2, 2000, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to a control arrangement for a passenger door of an aircraft, whereby the passenger door is movably connected to the fuselage by a support arm, a pivot and stroke (or shift) arrangement guides the passenger door between open and closed conditions, a locking arrangement achieves a locked condition, and a control for door functions has sensors and actuators arranged in connection therewith.
According to German patent DE 197 02 084, a passenger door of an aircraft is closed by a closing process that includes a pivoting-in motion and then a stroke motion. Namely, the door is guided along a stroke or sliding shift motion path that is curved essentially conforming to the aircraft outer contour, during the closing process at the end of the pivoting-in motion. The stroke motion path is guided essentially perpendicularly to the pivoting direction of the passenger door.
At the end of the path of a pivoting-in motion and with the beginning of the stroke motion path, the passenger door is lowered by means of a stroke or shift arrangement and guided into a closed condition. The closed condition corresponds to a form-locking engagement of stop elements fixed to the door with contact elements fixed to the door frame. In the closed condition, the passenger door is further locked by means of a locking arrangement, whereby the door is held in a locked condition. In this context, the locking arrangement works independently of the stroke and pivot arrangement. The locking arrangement of the passenger door, in the structurally simplest case, comprises a stop element that is movable by a drive shaft into a locking or arresting position. In this context the locking is, for example, activated or deactivated by a rotatable drive shaft.
Published European Patent Application EP 0,465,785 A1 discloses the conceptual suggestion, to provide electric motorized individual drives for operating means of a passenger door. The electric motorized motion is achieved by known measures of computer controlled automation. The installation of program controlled electric motors is known. A person skilled in the art knows that this requires a host or master computer executing or carrying out corresponding computer programs. Such a solution is complicated, costly and not absolutely necessary.
In view of the above, it is an object of the invention to provide a simple and extremely economical control for a passenger door of an aircraft with a pivot and stroke arrangement, which nonetheless meets all safety requirements. It is another object of the invention to provide a positive enforced sequential execution of a door closing or opening process without requiring computer control means. The invention further aims to avoid or overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, and to achieve additional advantages, as apparent from the present specification.
The above objects have been achieved according to the invention in a control arrangement and method for controlling a door (e.g. a passenger door) of an aircraft. The invention is especially provided in or for an aircraft including a fuselage with a door opening therein, a door, a support arm that movably connects the door to the fuselage and enables the door to move between an open position in which the door opening is open and a closed position in which the door closes the door opening, a pivot and stroke arrangement that is connected to the door and adapted to move the door between the open position and the closed position, a locking arrangement adapted to lock the door from the closed position to a locked condition, and a control connected to the pivot and stroke arrangement and to the locking arrangement and adapted to control the movement of the door between the open position and the closed position, and the locking of the door into the locked condition. The invention especially is directed to an improvement in the control, wherein the control is an operating sequence control, that is adapted to carry out a sequence of successive door closing steps, and that comprises a plurality of door condition sensors that respectively sense a respective door condition of the door and that switch the sequence from one to a next successive one of the door closing steps responsive to sensing the respective condition.
The passenger door control according to the invention is an operating sequence control, which controls the door functions or door closing steps of the passenger door. In this operating sequence control, a respective sensor is respectively allocated to each respective door function or step, and each sensor respectively controls the switching of the control sequence further to the next door function. In this manner, function sequences are carried out in a positive or enforced step-wise manner. Each respective sensor recognizes the beginning and/or the end of a respective allocated door function and initiates or activates the sensor and/or the actuator for the next door function. Respectively only the sensor of the running door function is active. According to particular embodiments, the sensor can trigger the further switching or stepping to the next function or step of the door closing process dependent on a path distance already traversed, or certain determined angular positions of the passenger door or of a component of the stroke and pivot arrangement.
The operating sequence control essentially requires sensors that monitor and initiate or activate the further switching to the next door function. Thereby, the invention entails an extremely small effort and expense with respect to the apparatus, and the control remains very robust and with little sensitivity to interference. Overall, this solution is extremely economical in comparison to a computer controlled solution.
The above objects have further been achieved according to the invention in a method of closing an aircraft door relative to a door opening of an aircraft fuselage. The inventive method includes the following steps:
a) pivoting the door from an open position to a pivoted-in position relative to the door opening;
b) sensing when the door achieves the pivoted-in position;
c) responsive to the sensing of the step b), shifting the door from the pivoted-in position to a closed position relative to the door opening;
d) sensing when the door achieves the closed position; and
e) responsive to the sensing of the step d), locking the door into a locked condition.
In this method, the functions or steps of the door closing process are carried out in a fixed, positively enforced sequence, which can be executed automatically without any computer control. The process for opening the door is essentially the reverse of the process for closing the door, and the same sensors and the like will be effective for triggering the switching from one step to the next in the door opening process as well.